Seo Yoon-pil
The report Seo Yoon-pil had brought was short, but every line was packed with essentials.
Centered on the Hyeongsan River that cut through Pohang, the north and south had become entirely different worlds.
The north was zombie territory — safe ground was almost nonexistent. The south, by contrast, was dense with dungeons, blue ones especially, and most of the remaining land was under human control.
There are a few large groups up north, but I don't care about those. So these guys were down south.
The report also laid out the major groups occupying southern Pohang, and among the names were the two Kang Dohyun had been looking for: Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu.
Dohyun put the question to Seo Yoon-pil directly.
"Tell me everything you have on the Choi Gyuseok group."
As if he had been waiting for exactly that, Seo Yoon-pil began unloading the information without hesitation.
"It's a bit far from here, so I only have partial intel — but the Choi Gyuseok group holds the Wonyong Bridge intersection and runs the surrounding area."
A large market had formed around the Wonyong Bridge intersection, and the group that controlled both the market and the nearby districts numbered over three hundred — a major force by any measure.
"The leader is Choi Gyuseok, the vice-leader is Lee Geonu. Both are likely at level twenty. Combatants over level ten are estimated at around forty."
That was a substantial number of high-level fighters.
"They recently took Hillstate Pohang and put their combat strength on full display. Far stronger than expected."
They had crushed a group of over six hundred at Hillstate Pohang and proven, beyond any doubt, that they were an elite force built for quality over quantity.
The information was rough, but for Kang Dohyun it was more than enough.
"Good."
He handed the report back to Seo Yoon-pil, clearly satisfied.
"If you need anything further…"
"I'm fine. This is sufficient."
He had confirmed where his targets were living. That was all he needed.
So far, Seo Yoon-pil had been impressive — but only at rapidly dumping information he already possessed. Dohyun wanted to see what else the man could do.
"I need something else."
"Please, go ahead."
"I want to find a man named Yoon Sejin."
"Pardon?"
The sudden name threw Seo Yoon-pil for a second, but he recovered his expression at once.
"Any additional details?"
"Man in his forties. Lived in Pohang. Engineer and scientist."
"Engineer and scientist…"
Pohang had POSTECH — Pohang University of Science and Technology — which meant no shortage of talented engineers and scientists. Seo Yoon-pil immediately flagged that circle as the most likely place to look.
"If you pull this off, I'll give you a little help taking control of this region."
At the words a little help taking control of this region, Seo Yoon-pil's eyes lit up.
"I'll find him. Without fail."
His ambition was already burning.
Once Seo Yoon-pil left, Kang Dohyun went to the room where Lee Chaerin was staying.
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.
Lee Chaerin was masturbating with a vibrator. Dohyun took in the sight without so much as a flicker of reaction, set down water and hardtack, and spoke.
"I'm heading out. If I'm not back, eat on your own."
"Hah… yes… haaah…"
She answered without stopping. Dohyun left her there and walked out of the house.
He climbed to the building's rooftop, summoned his drone, and took off.
His destination: the Wonyong Bridge intersection — where Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu were.
The Choi Gyuseok group held the market that had grown up around the Wonyong Bridge intersection. A sprawling bazaar stretched from the intersection along the Naengcheon stream beside it, and the entire thing was under their control.
Choi Gyuseok himself, along with the group's core combatants, had seized Building 104 of Hillstate Pohang — the tower closest to the intersection — and made it their base.
Dohyun landed on the rooftop of Building 108.
Lucky. This whole building's empty.
The Hillstate Pohang group — more than six hundred strong, formed by the residents of the apartment complex — had been crushed by Choi Gyuseok's people. In defeat they had been forced to abandon Buildings 103, 104, 107, and 108. Choi Gyuseok's group was only using 104.
Dohyun set up a telescope and began observing Building 104.
Crowded.
Roughly a hundred of the group's core combatants were living in 104. Choi Gyuseok himself occupied the top floor.
And he was not alone up there.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
A beautiful woman lay on the master bedroom bed, breathing hard, her whole body slick with sweat, white fluid leaking from between her legs.
"Not bad."
Choi Gyuseok left the bedroom satisfied. Another woman was waiting in the living room.
"Leader, were you satisfied?"
"It was fine. Bring a different one next time."
"Understood."
She was the woman in charge of managing Choi Gyuseok's women. He took a different one every day.
At his word, she collected the woman from the bedroom and led her out. A short while later, a man entered the apartment.
"Gyuseok."
"Yeah, Geonu."
The newcomer was Lee Geonu — vice-leader of the group by title, but a friend first.
"Have fun?"
"Always. New women are the best."
"Looks like you did. Anyway — word came in from the homeland."
At the mention of the homeland, Choi Gyuseok's entire demeanor shifted.
"Yeah? What did they say?"
"Nothing special. Just keep expanding our influence in the Pohang region."
"Got it."
The "homeland" they answered to was Japan. Both of them were Japanese intelligence operatives — spies.
Kang Dohyun's reasons for eliminating the Choi Gyuseok group were crystal clear.
First, Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu were Japanese agents. Once they secured their foothold in Pohang, they would become another beachhead for Japan's eventual advance into Korea.
And the way they operated was filthy.
They were saboteurs.
A year from now, when the people settled in southern Pohang finally banded together to clear the north, these two would ambush other groups and drive human-on-human conflict to its peak. On Japan's orders, of course.
Beyond that, they would keep sowing chaos, tormenting the people of Pohang, and standing at the tip of Japan's spear. Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu were the worst of the worst.
Dohyun had to deal with them. No exceptions. And given his trait — Spirit of Chungmugong — the reward for striking a decisive blow against Japan's advance would be very sweet indeed.
Through the telescope, he confirmed that both Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu were on the top floor.
Just this building, then.
The plan was simple. Kill most of the people in the apartment where Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu were staying, and the group would fall apart on its own.
Night fell. The area went dark.
With no electricity, pitch-black darkness swallowed everything. A few houses with power used candles and lamps for a while, but even those lights did not last.
When the hour grew late, Kang Dohyun moved.
He rode the drone around the perimeter of Hillstate Pohang Building 104, pulled jet fuel from his inventory, and began pouring.
Glug, glug.
He soaked the outer walls and the ground around the building. The jet fuel he had stored while clearing the Ulsan Airport dungeon was still plentiful even after that fight — more than enough for this.
Once the fuel was laid on thick, he struck a match and threw it.
Whoosh!
Fire erupted on all sides of Building 104.
The apartment began to burn. People inside felt the heat and jolted awake.
"Fire!"
"It's on fire! Get up — now!"
They shouted and scrambled for the exits. But—
Thwip. Thud!
Those on the lower floors who tried to get out dropped where they stood.
From the air, Kang Dohyun's crossbow picked them off one by one. Bodies piled up at the entrances, and the people still inside found it even harder to escape.
Within thirty minutes the entire building was engulfed. Choi Gyuseok and Lee Geonu had made it down to the tenth floor.
"We jump."
The smoke was unbearable. They decided to leap from there.
Ten stories was a height that should kill a normal person — but both men had hit level twenty. They figured they could survive it. Choi Gyuseok went first.
CRACK!
"Aaaagh!"
The impact was agony, but pain meant he was still alive. He was just starting to feel relieved when—
Thud!
He never got another thought. The energy bolt Kang Dohyun had been waiting to fire punched straight through his skull.
Moments later—
CRACK!
Lee Geonu jumped. The fall injured him badly, but he was still breathing. And then—
Thud!
Dohyun's energy bolt took his life as well.
Two hours was more than enough.
Everyone who had been staying in Building 104 burned to death, suffocated on smoke, or died to Kang Dohyun's sniper fire. The apartment itself was reduced to a charred husk.
Others eventually arrived and worked to keep the flames from spreading, so the damage did not grow beyond the building.
At first Dohyun considered killing the firefighters too.
They're not core members of Choi Gyuseok's group. And they're not going to put that building out anyway.
With their makeshift gear and manpower, there was no chance of extinguishing a fire that had consumed all of Building 104. Dohyun's target had been 104 alone — so he left them alone.
He was still watching the mostly burned-out shell of Building 104 when the messages arrived.
You have collapsed a foreign power that was covertly advancing into Korea.
The effect of the Trait Spirit of Chungmugong has been strengthened.
The message windows confirmed it cleanly: the job was done.
Refreshing.
Japan's advance into Korea had just become far more difficult. Two of the key groups that were supposed to serve as beachheads were gone.
Time to head back.
Satisfied, Kang Dohyun rode his drone home at an easy pace.